Sophie Zdatny, the newly named chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges System, certainly has her work cut out for her.
Recently, I read a very moving letter on a bulletin board at Ace Hardware on North Main Street. It wasn’t what you’d expect to see on such a bulletin board. I don’t use Facebook or Twitter, so I’m not able to “like” or “retweet.” But I give a “thumbs up” to an open letter by an 11-year-old g…
On June 12, Poultney High School bid farewell to 29 special seniors who had the most unorthodox senior year. However, unlike many of their peers across the country, we were able to have a ceremony where they were able to march into the graduation to Pomp and Circumstance and walk across the …
One question: Why is the president still in the White House instead of the Big House after this news of the Russian bounties on American military personnel?
At our southern borders, Donald Trump separates little children from their parents, and confines them to subpar facilities where several die. He ignores, dismisses and refuses to take the remedial national action needed – such as shutting down businesses – in order to confine the national CO…
To: Gov. Phil Scott, Dr. Mark Levine, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman and the Vermont Senate
I wish to share a very uncomfortable experience I had today at a grocery store in Rutland. Until today, I had felt comfortable in the store - aisles were marked to encourage traffic flow in one direction, and almost everyone had been wearing face masks.
It is now the "Trump Virus."
I was born the day President Franklin Roosevelt died. Since then, I have never experienced a national or worldwide crisis. My 98-year-old West Townshend, Vermont, neighbor, Dick Jackson, who walks a mile up and down Windham Hill Road every day in all seasons — he’s the guy with the red jacke…
"Future visitors to Rutland could step off the train looking at a park instead of a parking lot," per Rutland Herald article "Downtown plan offers map to future."
Christians, please wake up.
It’s hard to know whether we are living in strange or dangerous times.
This weekend we celebrate the 244th anniversary of the founding of our nation.
Years ago as a freshman in college, I decided to become a radio disc jockey. Getting paid all day to play music seemed like a dream job. There was just one obstacle. Back then, you had to have a third-class license from the Federal Communications Commission to prove you could read a transmit…
The pressure is on, in Washington and Montpelier, to take far-reaching (and long overdue) action to, insofar as possible, prevent future police-citizen interactions of the sort that led to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Everyone is looking forward to the COVID-19 pandemic ending. It’s not just the fear and the loss and the economic hardship. It’s the little stuff like being able to see someone’s smile or walk shoulder-to-shoulder down the street or give someone a hug. But one thing I am decidedly not lookin…
The woodchuck may be no more, but I’m not certain. He looked a little unsteady before he zipped off to God knows where, through the underbrush surrounding the lawn. It’s been 24 hours, and he’s not been seen since, but I’m not ready to take anything for granted. I did that with my marksmansh…
As we celebrate the Fourth of July let’s also reflect about what our flag and nation represents to the world. To millions of children throughout history, America has been a life-saver, providing food and hope. This history can inspire our next American adventure: feeding every hungry child i…
My grandmother chose her words carefully. She encouraged me to do the same. Our conversations often resembled a master’s thesis defense. From time to time, she’d get a wistfully contrary look in her eye and almost imperceptibly shake her head. I valued her opinion and found her condescension…
So much is being said about what needs to happen in order to change the way we deal with each other, especially in terms of race. A statement from the United States National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is on June 24, reflects the essential fact that we have a moral imperative to act in or…
Several years ago, I received some valuable advice from an attorney at a local law firm that sometimes thoughts should be left to cool in the saucer before being spoken.
I read recently that our current representatives voted against mail-in voting for the upcoming election. I think this is wrong-headed or, at the very least, short-sighted.
After having adopted what it believes to be the second school board equity policy in Vermont, the Mill River Unified Union School District Board recently voted in favor of raising the Black Lives Matter and Pride flags at its five schools.
I have been surprised to see so little coverage from the Rutland Herald on the demise of Marlboro College. The last story, in June, focused on the transfer of archives to the University of Vermont. The only previous news story was in January, highlighting the agreement that Castleton would a…
If anyone is still is under the impression that systemic racism is not a part of the fabric of America, consider this: Try finding any evidence of when four Black police officers murdered, in broad daylight, an innocent white man. Any.
If you were not composting or using your own bags for groceries, this week has probably been a bit of a shock to your system.
It’s been a tough week. Fortunately, for Vermont it has been business as usual.
Adults depending on money to complete important projects is the same as children depending on their parent to tell them to clean their rooms.
From the start, Trump has failed to take adequate measures to protect the American people from the coronavirus pandemic, responding instead with a constant barrage of obfuscation, lies and macho bluster. As a result, tens of thousands more Americans have died than would have been the case if…
Remember how Democratic candidates told us again and again during the presidential primaries that Americans love their private health insurance, love their employer-sponsored plan, and it shouldn’t be taken away from them?
If ever there was a time when Vermont needed someone of the caliber of Molly Gray, that time is right now. Molly is an attorney with the Vermont attorney general’s office representing victim advocates.
Vermont should use the pandemic to reshape child care — and women’s work — for good.
In a recent opinion piece, Windsor County State Sen. Alison Clarkson asks, "What kind of America do we want to be?" It is an important question. The causes Sen. Clarkson supports and how she votes is not the America or Vermont that I envision. It is not an America of compassion, liberty or …
"I am not a communist" – Karl Marx
On Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that the number of new infections in the United States could more than double to 100,000 a day if the country fails to contain the surge that is now underway in many states. The nation’s top infectious disease expert said the recent sharp rise in cases, l…
I have heard from several people who are outraged that Vermont state representatives voted to give ourselves a pay raise during the pandemic. I would share this outrage if it happened to be true. But it isn’t. No state representative will be getting a raise next year. Period. The vote we too…
I am sending this message to House Speaker Mitzi Johnson today in response to your decision to hold back some funds allocated to Vermont by the U.S. government for relief of hardships created by the actions of federal and state governments on small business operations in Vermont as consequen…
The residents, staff and Board of Trustees of the Gill Odd Fellows Home want to send out a public “Thank you” to LaValley's of Ludlow for their donation of our new fence in our courtyard.
I'm just wondering if the governor of Vermont has a plan in place for if and when the mob comes here to take down our statues? The erosion of law and order, the lack of respect for history, and the crazy idea to defund the police, amount to a very scary time in which anything can happen. It …
After one year of service in my short Rutland Reunion Tour (not as exciting as the Rolling Stones, but pretty much the same hair color) 27 years after I served as RHS Principal and Superintendent the first time, I wanted to express my genuine gratitude to so many folks in our community. I ha…
Everywhere statues are torn down by the angry mob, history promises people are next.
Everyone is allowed their own opinion, but not their own facts.
Susan Beard of Rutland in a letter published on June 23, questions absentee ballot procedures. I think she has misconceptions about the process, as may many others.
His body language on the long walk from Marine One to the White House residence seemed to say it all: The only reading he’d done in years should have been the writing on the wall, emphatically spelled out by almost 14,000 empty blue seats in the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa last Saturday…
Five Questions With
Just over three months ago we started “Five Questions With ...” to put a human face to this pandemic. Today marks the final installment in this stage of the project, but it will continue with a new set of questions more focused on Vermont’s recovery. Here, Paul Costello, of Montpelier, offer…
Marlee Brunton, of Middlesex, talks about the pandemic and its effects on her family.
Marlee Brunton, of Middlesex, talks about the pandemic and its effects on her family.
Alayna Martel, of Barre Town, is a registered nurse at UVM Medical Center. She talks about how, as a frontline workers, her life has been affected by the pandemic.
Gayle Townsend-Lang, of Rutland, works full time wearing many hats for the Rutland City Public Schools as “Miss Gayle.” Here she talks about how she has been affected by the pandemic.
Stefanie Schaffer, of Rutland, talks about how she has been coping with self-isolation and dealing with the pandemic.
Stefanie Schaffer, of Rutland, talks about how she has been coping with self-isolation and dealing with the pandemic.
Yankee Notebook columnist Willem Lange, of East Montpelier, talks about how he has been affected by self-isolation and the pandemic.
CPA Thomas Lauzon, of Barre, discusses how his life has been affected by the pandemic and self-isolation. Earlier this spring Lauzon was named to the governor’s Economic Mitigation & Recovery Task Force.
Chrispin White, of Rutland, discusses how he has been adapting to self-isolation and how the pandemic has been affecting him.
Christina Sweet, of Rutland, discusses how she and her family have been affected by the pandemic and self-isolation over these months.
Educator and Vermont Mountaineers General Manager Brian Gallagher, of East Montpelier, discusses how the pandemic has affected his life. Earlier this spring, the Mountaineers’ organizers announced they would cancel the 2020 season.
Cat Heatley, of Rutland, talks about how her life has been affected by the pandemic in recent weeks.
Cat Heatley, of Rutland, talks about how her life has been affected by the pandemic in recent weeks.
Salon owner and fitness instructor April Rogers Farnham, of Plainfield, talks about how she has been affected by self-isolation.
Barre Partnership Executive Director Tracie Lewis talks about self-isolation and how the pandemic has been affecting her life.
Montpelier writer Thomas Greene discusses how he has been affected by self-isolation and the pandemic.
Drew Smith, of Rutland, talks about self-isolation and how the pandemic has affected his life.
Jessica Van Orman talks about her experience in self-isolation and how the pandemic has affected her life.
Artist Jen Rondinone, of Rutland, reflects on self-isolation and how the pandemic has affected her and her family.
Mark Breen, the "Eye on the Sky" guy from the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, shares his thoughts in self-isolation and how the pandemic has been affecting his life.
Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe discusses how self-isolation and the pandemic have affected his life.
Executive Director of the Paramount Bruce Bouchard, of Rutland, talks about how his life has been affected by the pandemic and its consequences.
Stay-at-home mom and low-income advocate Roni Lynn Shrout, of Montpelier, discusses how the pandemic has affected her family.
Carrie Allen, of Rutland, explains how she has been coping with self-isolation and what she hopes will come from it after the pandemic is over.
Vermont cartoonist Tim Newcomb provides a bit of levity to his answers about self-isolation and how he is coping.
Recovery Vermont’s Melissa Story, of Montpelier, shares her thoughts on self-isolation and how it has affected her.
Major Jackson is a poet and professor at the University of Vermont. He lives in South Burlington.
Former governor Jim Douglas shared his thoughts on self-isolation.
Danziger: Five Questions With